Background

With the Kentucky Derby upon us this weekend, BAMF Style is returning to Harlan County to check in with one of our favorite residents of the state, Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens.

Justified‘s penultimate season finds Raylan Givens primarily facing off against the gator farmers of Dewey Crowe’s criminal family, led by his oldest brother Darryl Jr. (Michael Rapaport) who proves to be a much more menacing nemesis than the tragically dimwitted Dewey (Damon Herriman). Fans who first met the hapless Dewey in the pilot episode, irresponsibly brandishing a shotgun retrieved from the trunk of his Cadillac while a gator-tooth necklace clings to his “Heil Hitler”-tattooed neck must have been surprised to see that the scrappy little hoodlum was developed to the point of having such a fascinatingly imposing family, but that’s just the magic of the potential that Elmore Leonard gives to all of his characters.

What’d He Wear?

One of Raylan’s favorite off-duty looks over the entire run of Justified is a plaid shirt layered over a dark T-shirt, naturally worn with jeans as well as his usual lineup of cowboy boots, Stetson hat, and holstered Glock. Throughout the fifth season, Raylan offers a fresh take on a dark upper half by incorporating a gray-on-black plaid shirt over a black T-shirt.

Raylan’s outer layer is a black flannel shirt with an all gray tartan plaid overcheck. While a “flannel shirt” is colloquially – and ultimately wrongly – used to describe a plaid shirt, it’s worth noting that flannel actually refers to the softly woven fabric from which the shirt is made. Traditionally, flannel was made from wool, but the growing popularity of cotton, silk, and synthetic fibers in clothing now means that the flannel process can be applied to various materials.

This gray-on-black plaid cotton flannel shirt from Ralph Lauren has a slim collar and black plastic buttons down the front placket. Similar buttons are found to fasten the cuffs and to close the mitred-corner flaps on each of the two chest patch pockets.

Raylan chats up the least repulsive member of the Crowe clan.

Underneath, Raylan wears a plain black cotton short-sleeve T-shirt with a crew neck and a small patch pocket on the left chest, identified by a costume tag as a Levi’s product.

Raylan wears his tried-and-true blue medium wash Levi’s denim jeans. These (appropriately) bootcut jeans have the usual five-pocket layout of two front pockets, right coin pocket, and two patch pockets in the back.

Raylan wears his ostrich leg cowboy boots from Lucchese, which the company describes as made from a “cigar” shade of dark brown leather. These distinctive boots can still be found at sites like Sam’s Boot Ranch.

Raylan’s boots are most clearly seen when sporting a similar look – wearing a navy blue and forest green plaid flannel shirt rather than gray-on-black – in “Starvation” (Episode 5.12).

Although most of his clothing is black (suits) or blue (denim), Raylan always wears brown leather accessories. In the fifth season, he wears a well-worn dark brown tooled leather belt with a large steel single-prong buckle. The belt has white stitching along the top and bottom with vertical double-stitching on the belt’s thick front loop.

Fixed to the right side of his belt for a right-hand draw is Raylan’s tan leather holster, custom made by Alfonso’s of Hollywood for the production to replace his earlier Bianchi Model 59 paddle holster.

Raylan’s Glock remains holstered by his side at all times.

At the end of “Whistle Past the Graveyard” (Episode 5.08), Raylan briefly wears his blue denim Levi’s trucker jacket as an extra layer, recalling the “denim sandwich” look that he manages to pull off unlike so many other men. The stonewashed denim jacket has two patch pockets on the chest that close with a steel button through a pointed flap as well as the handwarmer side pockets that were added to Levi’s denim jackets in 1980. There are six aluminum stud buttons down the front as well as a button to close each cuff and a button-fastened adjustable strap on each side of the waistband.

I forgot just how much swagger Raylan had during the fifth season.

Although known for his distinctive cowboy hat, Raylan tends to go hatless with this outfit, leaving his sahara tan custom-made Baron Hats cattleman’s hat at home.

Raylan’s wristwatch is his usual TAG Heuer Series 6000 with a white dial and brushed steel case. The watch is secured to his left wrist on a plain black leather strap.

Finally, Raylan sports his silver horseshoe ring on the third finger of his right hand, a subtle call-out of his cowboy reputation and tendencies.

How to Get the Look

Raylan’s off-duty casual wear is exactly what you’d expect: ruggedly masculine and comfortably utilitarian… while still just fashionable enough for him to catch the eye of an interested woman.

On a chilly evening, Raylan isn’t opposed to the “Canadian tuxedo” of a blue Levi’s trucker jacket worn with his blue jeans… he would probably refer if you called it a Kentucky tuxedo, though.

The flannel shirt and jeans were included in a post-production auction and are still available for sale here, as of April 2018.

The Gun

Both on- and off-duty, Raylan carries his blued Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol, chambered in 9×19 mm Parabellum. The U.S. Marshal Service has issued the Glock 22 since 2000 – famously called out as a plot point by Tommy Lee Jones in U.S. Marshals – but that model’s .40 S&W ammunition is more expensive than the 9mm of the Glock 17.

Given the amount of gunplay on Justified and the cosmetic similarities between the on-screen Glock 17 and the actual issued Glock 22, the economical decision of the showrunners to utilize less expensive blank ammunition should be applauded.

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the entire series. This look was primarily seen throughout the fifth season, making its primary appearances in “Good Intentions” (Episode 5.03) and “Whistle Past the Graveyard” (Episode 5.08) with only brief or varied appearances in the other mentioned episodes.

And, if you’re a “rolly coaster” fan like Uncle Jack in “Whistle Past the Graveyard”, do yourself the favor of checking out the mentioned “face-melter” Millennium Force at Cedar Point. It’s a hell of a ride. (One of the first times I rode the Millennium Force shortly after it opened, a pen flew out of my pocket while going down a hill. It briefly lingered near my face before the velocity of the coaster overtook gravity and the hotel pen was relegated to my wake.)